The present invention relates to a process for extracting tetrahydrocannabinol from plant parts, and further comprising the use of a pressurized environment to maximize the chemical bonding of the tetrahydrocannabinol with a liquid.
Cannabis contains tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid (THC-COOH); this substance is also referred to as THC acid, Δ9-THC acid, THCA-A, or THCA. THC acid may be converted into the psychoactive substance Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), also known as (Δ9-THC) through processes that decarboxylate the THC acid. Decarboxylation is a chemical reaction that converts an acid to a phenol and releases carbon-dioxide (CO2); a carbon atom is removed from a carbon chain.
Other processes have been used to extract Δ9-THC from cannabis in uncontrolled ways, some of these processes use toxic materials and others do not; frequently such processes attempt to produce a final product in a single uncontrolled crude step.
Examples of such processes include the use of butane, a toxic solvent, to make the cannabis “red oil” commonly called hash oil. Cannabis is saturated in butane, the butane reduces the cannabis into an oil that is separated from the plant material, the butane evaporates continuously during the process of reduction; a paper filter is used to separate the oil from plant material. The author also recommends a secondary process of mixing the oil with isopropyl alcohol, then evaporating the isopropyl alcohol overnight by letting it sit. The author of this reference believes that the isopropyl alcohol reduces the photosensitivity of THC contained within the oil. The process disclosed has no scientific controls, and shows disregard for laws relating to treating cannabis as a controlled substance or preparation of food products. The disclosure is provided as an example of uncontrolled methods that are available to the public.
In contrast, uncontrolled crude processes that use no toxic chemicals include simply baking cannabis into cookies or bread, or making a tea by steeping cannabis in hot water. Cannabis infused dairy butter can be made by melting dairy butter in a pot, adding cannabis and cooking the mixture for a period of time, up to 24 hours.
Smoking, in the form of a cigarette or pipe, is the most frequently used uncontrolled process for decarboxylating cannabis. 
The processes discussed above that rely on temperature simply use temperature yet do not control temperature; if the temperature is too low decarboxylation will be incomplete, if temperatures are too high decarboxylated substances within cannabis will be lost to evaporation. Temperature control is therefore characteristic of a process that relies on temperature to decarboxylate. This is why the “uncontrolled” processes reviewed above that rely on temperature are truly uncontrolled.
Recently, with the legalization of medical cannabis in 14 states, various edible cannabis products have become available; such products include cookies, biscuits, cooking oil, and dairy butter. These products are made without scientific controls by small producers because pharmaceutical companies do not produce edible cannabis products. Products like cookies or biscuits are eaten as is; products like cooling oil or dairy butter are usually added or cooked into other foods. Each one of these individual edible products have limitations the most significant one is uncontrolled dosage, cookies or biscuits contain cannabis fiber that often makes them green in color, and dairy products such as dairy butter spoil at room temperature.
As a general rule, all the plant parts of Cannabis sativa L. with the exception of the seeds may contain cannabinoids. The highest cannabinoid concentrations are found in the floral bracts and fruit stalks. The leaves have a low content of cannabinoids as a function of leaf age, while the stalk and particularly the root exhibit clearly lower cannabinoid contents. Typically, the concentration of the cannabinoids in the leaf, stalk and roots ranges between 2% and 7%. It is desirable to extract the cannabinoids from the floral bracts and fruit stalks and the rest of the plant is viewed as unusable or waste product for cannabinoid production. The above discussed methods are not, or typically do not employ the parts of the plan which contain the lower percentages of Δ9-THC and are viewed as waste material, but still provide the benefits that the rest of the plant provides.
Benefits such as the many of the therapeutical effects handed down are coming to be confirmed in clinical research. At present, the pharmacological use of cannabis active principles is of importance essentially in the following indications: the appetite stimulating effect, in particular in the case of AIDS-related afflictions accompanied by cachexia and wasting syndrome, the antiemetic action for inhibiting nausea and vomiting, particularly in connection with chemotherapy under administration of cytostatic agents, the reduction of muscle cramps and spasms in multiple sclerosis and traverse lesions of the cord with paraplegia, pain and migraine treatment—in chronic pain therapy also complementarily with opioid treatment, lowering intra-ocular pressure in glaucoma, mood improvement, and in particular cannabidiol as an anti-epileptic, as well as various other diseases such as anxiety disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychosis, epilepsy, dystonia, diabetes, cancer, inflammatory diseases, and skin diseases.
A process for the production of a food grade intermediate product containing a known amount of Δ9-THC which is gathered from the waste or by product of the plant in controlled ways is the focus of the invention disclosed below.